Accidental Fiancé (Unintentionally Yours #5)

26. Julian

Chapter 26

Julian

O ur estate wasn't the biggest around. Twenty-five acres wasn't that much compared to some of our neighbors. But it gave us enough room to weave some trails between the trees, the road, and the driveway. Plenty of mileage for me to run my feelings out.

The problem was, I wore the wrong shoes.

By the time I headed back to the house, I'd slowed down considerably on account of the blisters on my heels. I'd wound around the mansion I don't know how many times, but I ended up walking up to the pool area. There, on the loungers, were Mom and Yaya, each with a bottle of ouzo, a pitcher of water on the table between them.

Yaya smiled up at me, patting the empty lounger beside her. I’ve always thought that Yaya was one of the prettiest women I'd ever known. She had smiling eyes, the kind that looked as if she was about to break into laughter at all times. Her hair was always done perfectly, her outfits always pressed. She took a lot of pride in her appearance, telling us often how no one believed her age. “Sit. Drink with us. I've hardly seen you since I've been here.”

How could I say no to that? She poured me a glass of ouzo splashed with water, and I took it. I raised the glass. “Yamas.” Ouzo always tasted like licorice gone bad, and tonight was no exception. “Happy birthday, Yaya.”

She folded her small hands over herself. “Thank you, Julian. Now, tell me, what of this girl you brought with you? Piper likes her.”

It wasn't news to me, but I had to ask, “What makes you say that?”

“She can't stop talking about her.”

Mom smiled and nodded. “She’s smitten. You’ve done well.”

“Thanks,” I said stiffly. “I am having a little bit of a crisis right now, however, so if you two don't mind, I'm going to head back inside.”

“You will stay here,” Yaya emphasized each word. “You tell us your troubles.”

That was not going to happen. “It will pass. Nothing to worry about.”

“That's for us to decide,” Yaya said.

Mom added, “You know you can tell us anything, honey.”

But there were too many layers, and I didn't want to get into it. “I've known Maggie since high school, which means there’s years of stuff to deal with, you know? Sometimes, some of it comes out of nowhere, and I’m unprepared to deal with it right away.”

“Does this have anything to do with that Chloe girl?” Yaya asked.

Why does she have to be so damn insightful? “It’s honestly just stupid kid stuff. It'll pass.”

“Whatever it is, Maggie is a lucky girl to have you,” Mom said.

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Whatever it is, he better get it under control before my official party in two days,” Yaya teased. “There will be cake and no fighting. A real American birthday party, not a Greek one.”

I chuckled despite myself. “No worries, Yaya. I've got it all under control.”

Only I didn't have it under control. Not when I tucked Piper in and almost cried when she asked where Maggie was. Not when I found Maggie in our room, and I sent her to tuck Piper in. She looked up at me with so much something in her eyes. “She wants me to come and say goodnight, too?”

I gulped. “Yeah. I think she was a little disappointed that you hadn't come to tuck her in.”

Maggie scurried to get dressed and left without another word. By the time she returned for bed, I was half asleep. “Sorry, did I wake you?”

“What time is it?”

“Just after eleven.”

“Piper kept you this long?”

She smiled and shook her head, taking off her robe. Her satin and lace pajamas accentuated her curves, the sight stirring me awake. “No. After I tucked her in and got her to sleep, I ran into Yaya in the hallway. She started telling me about Greece, and we ended up talking for a long time. That woman has lived a life.”

I smiled as she crawled into bed next to me and turned out the light. “Yes, she has.”

“Was she really a lion tamer?”

“She worked for a circus, believe it or not. Whether she was actually a lion tamer is up for debate. But she does have an extensive picture collection showing her in a variety of circus jobs, including one where she’s standing next to a lion with a whip in her hand. Mom swears she never did any of that. That she went to one of those photo shops where they can superimpose you into already existing photos. But she looks very active and involved in the pictures, so I don’t argue with either of them on it.”

Maggie yawned. “I prefer to believe she actually did it.”

“Same here.”

She cradled onto my shoulder, and it felt right. “Okay if I sleep here?”

My voice went hoarse. “Yeah.” I laid an arm on her back, and neither of us spoke for a long time. I knew I shouldn't have left so abruptly. I should have stayed to make sure she was okay, that she wasn’t blaming herself for what I’d done to defend her. Yet another mistake. I laid there beating myself up over it most of the night. But at least I got to listen to her breathe as she slept. She was so peaceful in my arms.

I must have dozed off because when my stupid ass cousins banged on my bedroom door and threw it open, I jerked awake. “The fuck?”

“You know the drill, lover boy. Time for the hunt,” Marcus said.

“Get the fuck out.”

“You’ve got two minutes,” Apollo chimed in, shutting the door while they waited in the hallway.

A groggy Maggie asked, “The hunt?”

“It's the counter to the lady’s spa day. Guys only,” I explained as I dressed. “We don't ever actually kill anything. It's more like a hike with guns.”

“You're not even fully awake, and you're going to be handling firearms?”

“Family tradition.” I pulled on a pair of jeans and a tee with a flannel and boots. “I'll be back in a few hours. This usually takes us to about noon.”

“I'll keep an eye on Piper.”

“Sleep. Please.” Loudly, I said, “I'm sorry my asshole cousins woke you up.”

“We can hear you through the door, you know,” Apollo responded.

It made me smile. Maggie too.

“When you get back, can we talk about everything?”

“I promise. We'll talk about everything.”

She motioned for me to come close, then pulled me in for a kiss with a gleam in her eyes. “I'll hold you to that promise.”

That was all it took for me to hurry out the door. The sooner we finished the hunt, the sooner she and I could talk, and the sooner we might actually make this into a real thing.

I found myself at the front of the group, with Marcus and Apollo trailing closely behind. The rest of the men in our family were walking more leisurely, each carrying a flask of ouzo with them if they were old enough, and for our family, that meant at least fifteen. “Why are you guys so slow today?”

“Why aren't you slower?” Marcus asked. “Didn't Maggie wear you out?”

“Don't talk about Maggie like that.”

Apparently, that was the wrong thing to say because he responded with, “Oh, it’s like that, huh?”

“I don't talk about you and Chloe’s sex life. You don't need to talk about mine. That's all.”

Apollo grinned. “He's protective of her. I think that's sweet.”

“You're serious about this girl, aren't you?” Marcus asked.

“I wouldn't have put a ring on her finger if I wasn't.”

“You know, Chloe has a lot to say about her.”

“She always has. In fact, Chloe has a lot to say about a lot of things.”

His eyes narrowed on me. “What's that supposed to mean?”

“I'm not going to rehash mine or Maggie’s history with Chloe. You’re well aware of what the situation is. I don’t know how you could choose to associate with someone like her, but that's your business, not mine.”

“I'm not the one engaged to the girl who cheated on me in high school.”

That stopped me in my tracks and I spun on him. “What did you just say?”

“Guys.” Apollo stepped between us. “We're not doing this.”

“The fuck we're not,” Marcus said, scooting past him. He sneered in disgust. “I'm glad you've been able to put the past in the past with Maggie, but I haven’t. The fact of the matter is, she cheated on you in high school with that music teacher, and now you wanna marry her. What the hell is that?”

Anger surged through me. “Watch your fucking mouth.”

“Guys!” Apollo snapped.

“You see how defensive he is over this chick?” he growled at his brother. “I'm your cousin, Julian. This is embarrassing for all of us. For the whole family.”

I stepped up to him. “You don't know what you're talking about.”

“I know plenty. Chloe told me everything.”

“That would be the problem, wouldn't it? Getting your information from that... person.”

He clenched his jaw, and Apollo snapped his fingers between us. “Hey, hey. Eyes on me.” “You, up the trail.” He pointed at me. “Marcus, back to the house. Now.”

“We're not kids anymore, Apollo. You're not the boss of us,” Marcus said. For once, I was inclined to agree with him. “This is between me and Julian.”

“Fine, but hand me your pieces.”

We both turned over our shotguns. “Chloe's been lying to you, and if you want to play the family card, remember it goes both ways.”

“And I'm sure Maggie's been so perfect.”

“She didn't fuck the teacher! And we never dated in high school, so even if she had, she still wouldn't have been cheating on me!”

“You seem to just roll over for whoever cheats on you, including Britney.”

Without much of a thought, my fist collided with his face, and time slowed down. Next thing I knew Apollo’s hands were on my chest, shoving me against a tree. “What the fuck is wrong with you? We’re fucking family, Julian!”

Uncle Dino caught up to us, eyeing me, then his son. He crouched over Marcus to study his face. I couldn’t look away as blood poured from his nose. Uncle Dino had been a boxer, I assumed he was assessing the damage.

My uncle grunted, “I warned you.”

“Papa, I?—"

“I tell you not to speak of his lady friend. And what do you do?”

Marcus huffed out a breath. “But Papa?—"

“What did you do?”

His son didn’t answer. He pinched his nose instead.

“Apollo.”

“Yes, Papa?”

“Take Marcus back. Get him cleaned up. And Julian?” he said my name as he stood and faced me.

I felt so small when I looked at him. It was worse when the rest of the guys caught up to us, all spouting questions at the same time. But Uncle Dino held me in his cold gaze, and I couldn’t look away. Hitting his son was one thing. Looking away would be an unforgivable insult. “Yes, Uncle Dino?”

“Never pull your punches.”

I didn’t hear that right. “What?”

“You had good form. But you pulled it at the last second. Never pull your punches. It’s disrespectful.”

I was aghast. “He’s your son?—"

“And my son can take a hit. Don’t disrespect him like that again.” He nodded curtly, then continued on the trail as his sons went the other way back to the house. I followed Uncle Dino into the hills.